Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. It follows a heist involving a confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three-card brag, prompting him to pay off his debts by enlisting his friends to help him rob a small-time gang operating out of the apartment next door. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, and Sting.

The film brought Ritchie international acclaim and introduced Statham (a former diver) and Jones (a former footballer) to worldwide audiences in their feature film debuts. It was also a commercial success, grossing over $28 million at the box office against a $1.35 million budget. A television spin-off called '' Lock, Stock...'' followed in 2000, running for seven episodes.

Plot

Long-time friends and small-time London criminals Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon put together £100,000 so that Eddie, a card sharp, can participate in one of "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale's high-stakes three-card brag games. The game, however, is rigged and they wind up owing £500,000 to Harry, to be paid within a week. Harry sends his debt collector Big Chris and his son Little Chris to Eddie's father JD, since Harry's true intention is to acquire JD's bar in payment of the debt.

Also interested in two expensive antique Holland & Holland shotguns up for auction, Harry gets his enforcer Barry "the Baptist" to hire two thieves, Gary and Dean, to steal them from a bankrupt lord. After the incompetent thieves unwittingly sell them to Nick "the Greek", a local fence, Barry threatens them into retrieving the guns. Meanwhile, Eddie returns home and overhears his neighbours, a gang of robbers led by a brutal man called "Dog", planning a heist on some cannabis growers loaded with cash and drugs. He tells the other three and they decide to rob the neighbours after they return from their heist. Tom buys the shotguns from Nick (both unaware of their true value), for use in the plan.

Dog's gang execute their heist, and despite a gang member's death by his own Bren gun and an incriminating encounter with a traffic warden, they succeed, returning with a duffel bag full of money and a van loaded with bags of cannabis. Eddie and his friends ambush them and escape in the van containing the cannabis and the warden. They transfer the loot to their own van and return home, knocking out the warden and dumping him by the road before arranging for Nick to fence the drugs to violent gangster Rory Breaker. Rory agrees to buy the cannabis at half price but two of his men visit the house of the growers, discover that they have been robbed and the cannabis he just bought has been stolen from his own growers. Rory threatens Nick into giving him Eddie's address and tasks one of the two surviving growers, Winston, to identify the robbers.

While the friends celebrate at JD's bar, Dog's crew, having accidentally discovered that they were robbed by their neighbours, set up an ambush in Eddie's flat. Rory and his gang arrive at the flat instead and in the ensuing shoot-out, all except Dog and Winston are killed. Winston leaves with the drugs, while Dog attempts to escape with the shotguns and the cash but Big Chris arrives, incapacitates him, and takes both. Attempting to recover the guns, Gary and Dean follow Big Chris, oblivious to the fact that Big Chris is bringing them to Harry.

Having delivered the money and guns to Harry, Big Chris returns to his car to find Dog holding Little Chris at knifepoint, demanding the cash be returned to him. Big Chris complies and starts the car. Meanwhile, Gary and Dean burst into Harry's office. The ensuing confrontation results in the deaths of Gary, Dean, Barry and Harry. Having discovered the carnage at their flat and their loot missing, the four friends head to Harry's office, finding a second set of corpses and their money. Big Chris deliberately crashes into their car to disable Dog and then fatally bludgeons him with his car door. He then retrieves the cash from the unconscious Eddie but allows Tom to leave with the shotguns after a brief stand-off. The friends are arrested but soon released after the warden identifies Dog and his crew as the culprits.

Back at the bar, Eddie, Bacon and Soap send Tom out to discard the guns, as they are the only remaining evidence linking them to the case. While Tom is away, Big Chris arrives to announce his intentions of leaving the friends alone, but warns them not to seek him out in the future. Big Chris then returns the bag, from which he has taken all the cash and which is now empty save for a catalogue of antique weapons. Leafing through the catalogue, the three friends learn that the shotguns are actually far more valuable than they had realised and frantically call Tom to dissuade him from disposing of them. The film ends with Tom leaning over Battersea Bridge, holding his mobile phone ringing in his mouth, as he attempts to drop the guns into the River Thames.

Cast

* Nick Moran as Eddie
* Jason Flemyng as Tom
*Dexter Fletcher as Soap
* Jason Statham as Bacon
* Steven Mackintosh as Winston
* Vinnie Jones as Big Chris
*Peter McNicholl as Little Chris
* Nicholas Rowe as J
* Lenny McLean as Barry "the Baptist"
* P. H. Moriarty as "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale
* Frank Harper as Dog
* Sting as JD
* Huggy Leaver as Paul
* Stephen Marcus as Nick "the Greek"
* Vas Blackwood as Rory Breaker
* Vera Day as Tanya
* Alan Ford as Alan
* Danny John-Jules as Barfly Jack
* Victor McGuire as Gary
*Jake Abraham as Dean
*Rob Brydon as the traffic warden
* Steve Collins as boxing gym bouncer
*Steve Sweeney as Plank

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film was released in 1998 in the United Kingdom by Island Records. Madonna's Maverick Records label released the soundtrack in the United States in 1999 but omitted nine tracks from the UK release.
# " Hundred Mile High City" by Ocean Colour Scene
# "It's a Deal, It's a Steal" by Tom, Nick & Ed*
# "The Boss" by James Brown
# "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Skanga*
# "Hortifuckinculturist" – Winston
# " Police and Thieves" by Junior Murvin
# " 18 With a Bullet" by Lewis Taylor & Carleen Anderson*
# " Spooky" by Dusty Springfield
# "The Game" by John Murphy & David A. Hughes*
# "Muppets" by Harry, Barry & Gary
# "Man Machine" by Robbie Williams*
# "Walk This Land" by E-Z Rollers
# "Blaspheming Barry" by Barry
# " I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges
# "It's Kosher" by Tom & Nick
# " Liar, Liar" by The Castaways*
# "I've Been Shot" by Plank & Dog
# "Why Did You Do It" by Stretch
# "Guns 4 show, knives for a pro" by Ed & Soap
# "Oh Girl" by Evil Superstars
# "If the Milk Turns Sour" by John Murphy & David A. Hughes (with Rory)*
# " Zorba the Greek" by John Murphy & David A. Hughes
# "I'll Kill Ya" by John Murphy & David A. Hughes (with Rory)*
# " The Payback" by James Brown
# "Fool's Gold" by The Stone Roses*
# "It's Been Emotional" by Big Chris
# "18 With a Bullet" by Pete Wingfield

* Track omitted from 1999 US release.

;Release history

Production

The production of the film followed Guy Ritchie's single short film which preceded ''Lock, Stock''. As stated in filmscouts.com:

Although it was Ritchie's first feature, his previous short film ''The Hard Case'' was sufficiently impressive to secure interest not only from financial backers but also persuaded Sting to take the role of JD. "I'd seen Guy's short film and was excited by the pace and energy in it. The way in which he handles violence and action appealed to me. I don't like gratuitous violence. I think it's much more chilling when it's suggested rather than graphic." For Ritchie, getting exactly the right actor for each role was essential. "The casting took forever and we auditioned hundreds of people, but I was determined to hold out until we got the real McCoy." This led to employing several genuine ex-cons, who certainly invest the film with its menacing undertones. Ritchie also looked to the celebrity arena to secure the right cast such as Vinnie Jones. "I didn't hesitate in casting Vinnie as I have the most incredible respect for his acting capabilities."

A one-hour documentary of the production of the film was released featuring much of the cast along with Ritchie.

Locations include Shoreditch for the gang hideout and Clerkenwell for JD's bar.

The film was Lenny McLean's final film appearance, as he died in July 1998, shortly before the film's release.

Release

Summit Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film excluding the UK upon its premiere at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which already held UK rights, acquired distribution rights for the film in North America, with U.S. distribution being handled by its subsidiary Gramercy Pictures, later extended to include Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, the Benelux, France, Spain and Switzerland.

Reception

Box office

The film was released on 28 August 1998 in the United Kingdom and was the second-highest grossing local production for the year behind '' Sliding Doors'' with a gross of $18.9 million. It was released on 5 March 1999 in the United States, where its total gross was .

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a grimy, twisted, and funny twist on the Tarantino hip gangster formula". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

John Ferguson in ''Radio Times'' called the film "the best British crime movie since '' The Long Good Friday''". Roger Ebert in ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote: "''Lock, Stock'' is fun, in a slapdash way; it has an exuberance, and in a time when movies follow formulas like zombies, it's alive".'

Accolades

The film was nominated for a British Academy Film Award in 1998 for the outstanding British Film of the Year. In 1999, it was nominated for a Brit Award for Soundtrack/Cast Recording. In 2000, Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 2004, ''Total Film'' named it the 38th greatest British film of all time. In 2016, ''Empire'' magazine ranked ''Lock, Stock'' 75th on their list of the 100 best British films.

Television

A spin-off television series, co-written by Ritchie was developed for Channel 4. The show featured a new cast of characters: Moon, Jamie, Bacon, and Lee (portrayed by Daniel Caltagirone, Scott Maslen, Shaun Parkes, and Del Synnott, respectively); who comedically fail at various criminal business ventures, similar to the cast of the feature film. ''Lock, Stock...'' aired from May 29 through July 11, 2000.

See also

* Hyperlink cinema – the film style of using multiple interconnected story lines
* Heist film
* '' Phir Hera Pheri'' - An unofficial remake of the movie, with a similar plot but a slightly different storyline.

References

Further reading

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
1998 films
1998 independent films
1998 black comedy films
1998 crime comedy films
1990s gangster films
1990s heist films
1990s comedy thriller films
1990s English-language films
1998 directorial debut films
1990s American films
1990s British films
British black comedy films
British crime comedy films
British gangster films
British heist films
British independent films
British comedy thriller films
British films about gambling
British neo-noir films
Edgar Award–winning works
Films scored by John Murphy (composer)
British films about cannabis
Films about drugs
Films adapted into television shows
Films directed by Guy Ritchie
Films set in London
1990s hood films
Gramercy Pictures films
HandMade Films films
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films
Summit Entertainment films
Films produced by Matthew Vaughn
Films with screenplays by Guy Ritchie
Hyperlink films
English-language black comedy films
English-language independent films
English-language crime comedy films
English-language comedy thriller films
SKA Films films